Mattock Rangers earned themselves a permanent place in the Louth GAA Hall of Fame in 2010 by completing back-to-back senior football championship successes. The Collon club has now collected the Joe Ward Cup four times - all within an astonishing eight-year period. The 2010 victory was, in many ways, the highlight thus far of Mattock's incredible golden era. 

At Drogheda on Sunday October 3rd, 2010, substitute Keith Brennan struck a dramatic winning point in the third minute of injury time to give Mattock Rangers a 1-8 to 0-10 victory over Cooley Kickhams in the Louth SFC final. Victory meant the Collon men had retained the Joe Ward Cup in the most sensational of fashions. In a repeat of the 2009 county decider - which Mattock had won at a canter (3-12 to 0-11) - the peninsula men put in a hardy performance and looked likely winners as the clock ticked down. However, Niall Callan's 54th-minute goal pulled the match out of the fire and Brennan's late intervention ensured that there'd be yet another party in the Meath border village.
DJ Kane's hard-working challengers delivered a dogged display in the first half, suffocating Mattock to lead by double scores at the interval, 0-6 to 0-3. The holders found more breathing space upon the resumption and levelled by the 42nd minute, only to trail by 0-9 to 0-7 with eight minutes left. Callan then pounced for a three-pointer worthy of any occasion and Cooley seemed to have salvaged a draw when Gavin Long found a late equaliser. However, as the large crowd at The Gaelic Grounds began to contemplate their plans for attending the replay, Brennan won the silverware with his 63rd-minute winner.
Cooley had opted for a physical approach to the game and Drogheda was no place for shrinking violets on the first weekend of October. Mattock stood up to the test of their manliness and Kit Henry's men eventually found the footballing wherewithal to claim a historic triumph - their second in succession and fourth in all.
Winning captain David Reid opened the scoring from a first-minute free and Robbie Brennan saw his goal attempt saved by the Kickhams 'keeper three minutes later. With tackles coming in hard and fast, Mattock managed to lead by 0-3 to 0-2 after 13 minutes, with Adrian Reid and the evergreen Christy Grimes on target, but - with space at a premium - they failed to register again before the interval.
Mattock injected greater urgency into their play after the restart and David Reid struck three times in the third quarter to tie it up at 0-6 apiece. But the introduction of Aussie Rules man Brian Donnelly saw Cooley hit three of the next four scores, with Grimes conjuring the Mattock minor from a free. Callan then drove a rasping shot to the net via the underside of the crossbar, before Cooley levelled with three minutes of normal time remaining. Over five minutes later, substitute Brennan kept his composure to float over the winning point from under pressure.
Mattock Rangers, 2010 Louth senior football champions: Mike Englishby; Pauric Bannon, David Brennan, Martin Sherlock; Sean Gilsenan, Christy Grimes (0-2), Daire Englishby; Daniel Bannon, Mark Brennan; David Reid (0-4), Adrian Reid (0-1), Niall Callan (1-0); Darren Brennan, Robbie Brennan, Niall Sharkey. Sub: Ryan Leneghan for N Sharkey (30), Michael McKeown for David Brennan (h/t), Keith Brennan (0-1) for Darren Brennan (42), Shane Grimes for R Brennan (55). Panel: Timmy Smith, Thomas Murphy, Garon Duff, Keith Hamill, Tommy McKenna, Shane Grimes, Greg Monaghan, Ian Cunningham, Tom O'Reilly,

John Reid, Conor Leneghan.
Mattock emphatically proved that their insatiable hunger remains as they finished the competition with a perfect record of five wins from five outings… And there could be absolutely no arguing with the merit of their win as Newtown Blues, St Patricks and Cooley Kickhams were all counted among their victims!
Twelve teams contested the 2010 Louth SFC and these were initially divided into four groups of three. When the draw for the group stage was made in late February, the defending champions were pitted in Group A alongside Newtown Blues and Naomh Malachi. The teams would play each other once in a series of round-robin games, with the top two progressing to the quarter-finals.
The holders opened their defence of their crown in ominous fashion when defeating the Mals by 4-10 to 0-2 at The Grove on Sunday August 15th. Mattock never really had to come out of second gear after the break, as they strolled to a 20-point victory. With points from David Reid, Adrian Reid and Christy Grimes and goals from Darren Brennan and Niall Callan, they led by 2-7 to no score at half time.
David Reid (43) and Keith Brennan (51) added to the goals tally as the following personnel got the campaign up and running in style:  Mike Englishby; Paraic Bannon, David Brennan, Martin Sherlock; Sean Gilsenan, Daire Englishby, Earnan Roche; Daniel Bannon, Christy Grimes (0-2); David Reid (1-6), Adrian Reid (0-2), Niall Callan (1-0); Niall Sharkey, Robbie Brennan, Darren Brennan (1-0). Subs: Ryan Leneghan for R Brennan (ht), Thomas Murphy for M Sherlock (40), Keith Brennan 1-0 for N Sharkey (42), Shane Grimes for C Grimes (51), Greg Monaghan for D Reid (54).
Castlebellingham was again the venue six days later as Mattock confirmed their passage to the Last Eight with a battling 1-14 to 2-10 win over Newtown Blues. With a host of county stars on show, the Blues struck for two goals inside the opening five minutes to lead by 2-0 to 0-2. But a trio of David Reid points had Kit's men level by the end of the first quarter and Christy Grimes, Mark Brennan and Niall Callan all chipped in to carve out a 0-10 to 2-2 interval advantage. Adrian Reid supplied the decisive goal in the third quarter and Mattock withstood a late Blues rally to progress unscathed to the quarter-finals. Mattock Rangers - 2010 Louth SFC Group A V Newtown Blues: Mike Englishby; Martin Sherlock, David Brennan, Pauric Bannon (0-1); Sean Gilsenan, Daire Englishby, Earnan Roche; Niall Callan (0-2), Christy Grimes (0-4); Adrian Reid (1-0), Mark Brennan (0-1), David Reid (0-4); Darren Brennan, Robbie Brennan, Niall Sharkey. Subs: Daniel Bannon for Darren Brennan, Shane Grimes (0-2) for N Sharkey, Ryan Leneghan for R Brennan.
Kilkerley Emmets provided the quarter-final opposition in Drogheda on Saturday September 4th and Mattock had to be on red alert to avoid a shock defeat, maintaining their composure to win by 1-15 to 2-7. The champions needed a late David Reid goal and an injury-time Keith Brennan point to finally see off stubborn opposition. The underdogs roared into a 1-3 to 0-1 lead but Mattock gradually got into their stride to lead by one point at the turnaround, 0-9 to 1-5, with Christy Grimes, Niall Sharkey, David Reid and Mark Brennan prominent amongst the first-half scorers. The second half was nip and tuck all the way with Mattock's greater experience seeing the following side across the winning line: Mike Englishby; Martin Sherlock, David Brennan, Pauric Bannon; Sean Gilsenan, Daire Englishby, Earnan Roche; Niall Callan, Christy Grimes (0-4); Adrian Reid, Mark Brennan (0-2), David Reid (0-5); Darren Brennan, Robbie Brennan, Niall Sharkey (0-3). Sub: Daniel Bannon (0-1).
That hard-earned win set up a mouth-watering semi-final clash with St Patricks. The 'big four' had all made it through to the penultimate stage, so it would now be a three-game shoot-out to determine the best team in the Wee County in 2010. On Sunday September 12th, at Dromiskin's Cluskey Park, Mattock confirmed their superiority over the Lordship side with a 1-11 to 0-10 win, with Robbie Brennan's 47th-minute goal proving decisive. Nine minutes earlier, goalkeeper Mike Englisby and full back David Brennan had combined heroically to deny the Pats a breakthrough goal. The action commenced 45 minutes late due to extra time being required in the curtain-raiser and Mattock led by 0-5 to 0-2 at the interval as David Reid and Niall Sharkey led the scoring. The Pats knocked over four quickfire scores upon the resumption but Darren Brennan fisted the leveller. Despite a Robbie Brennan point, Mattock trailed by 0-8 to 0-7 coming towards the end of the third quarter. Strong finishes represented one of the most remarkable features of Mattock's brilliant season and this was evident again as they closed out the game impressively. Robbie Brennan was on hand to take the vital score after Mark Brennan's effort had struck a post and the winners had late points from David Reid, Mark Brennan and Christy Grimes.
Mattock Rangers - 2010 Louth SFC semi-final V St Patricks: Mike Englishby; Pauric Bannon, David Brennan, Michael Sherlock; Sean Gilsenan, Christy Grimes (0-1), Daire Englishby; Daniel Bannon, Mark Brennan (0-1); Niall Callan, Adrian Reid, David Reid (0-5); Darren Brennan( 0-1), Robbie Brennan (1-1), Niall Sharkey (0-2). Subs: Keith Brennan for D Bannon (43), Ryan Leneghan for Niall Sharkey (54)

Mellifont Rovers win
Minor "C" Championship 

Mellifont took the honours in this hard fought final played under lights in Darver as they outscored Kilkerley/Naomh Malachi by 1-12 to 0-7.

Both teams took some time to settle into the game but Mellifont with their possession football and quick moving of the ball created more scoring opportunities which their forwards converted. There was some good football played in this period but it was Mellifont who went in a half time leading by four points. The result of the game was effectively sealed early in the second period when Mellifont scored 1-3 without reply. The goal came about from a very good move involving a number of the forwards and when the ball was delivered to Tony McKenna who was running from midfield, hit an unstoppable shot to the Kilkerley/Naomh Malachi net. The game lost some of its intensity after this but both teams kept playing good football. This was a very good all round performance by every Mellifont player and when the cup was presented to the joint captains of Michael McKeown and Tony McKenna it was accepted on behalf of the team who worked very hard all year to achieve the result. 
Best for Mellifont were Brian Corconan, Stewart Callan, Tony McKenna, Terry Donegan, Michael McKeown and Conor Lenighnan. 
Mellifont Rovers - Niall Moyna, Shane Dowdall, Tim Smyth, Daryl Englishby, Terry Donegan, Brian Corcoran, Stewart Callan, Tony McKenna 1-2, Conor Finn 0-2, Shane Maguire 0-1, Michael McKeown 0-2, Mark Cunningham 0-1, Shane Matthews 0-1, Conor Leneghen 0-3, Ruairi Hickey. Subs - Eddie Condon, Alan Matthews, Ciaran Taaffe, Ronan McQuillan, Stephen Cotter, Liam Farrell, Eoghan Clarke. Tweet

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